Safety razor



Nov., 2s, 1933. H B RANDOLPH 1,937,167

SAFETY RA ZOR Filed Feb. ll, 1932 lil 'drawing which illustrates one embodiment of Patented Nov. 28,

PATENT Ferries Y SAFETY RAZOR` Harryy Beckham Randolph, London, England Application Febmary 11,1932. serial 110.592,245

2 claims- `(c1. .a0-12) This `invention comprises improvements in safety razors. It isan object of the invention to proWldea safety razor of the self-stropping type with whichstropping can be accomplished more effectively than in the usual type of such razors, and in which in particular the pressure of the blade upon the strop is both adequate and uniform, the possibility of the blade accidentally cutting the strop is reduced to a minimum, and it is possible eectively to stropvrazor-blades'of the solid hollow ground type .as distinct from wafer blades in the razor frame without` removal of the blade. Y

Further objects of the invention are to provide improved means for Vholding said hollow 'ground blades, improved meansfor adjusting the guard relatively to theblade, and la more rigid frame for the razor. f

To thisend the invention comprises various combinations of parts, speciic forms of which Yare hereinafter described, and the essential fea.-v

tures of which are pointed out in the appended claims. l

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying the invention.

In the drawlngz- Figure 1 is an external side elevation of a razor, Figure 2 is a *central vertical section through the same, I

Figure 3 is an underside plan View with the handle removed, and n Figures Li and 5 aredetails.` Referring to Figures 1' to 3., the razor comprises a strop-engaging carriage in the'form of la rec tangularbase plate 11, having upstanding ribs 35, 36 along'itsircnt and rear edges, which Y carries at its ends upstanding lugs 12. Thebase plate l1 may conveniently be formed of extruded y metal. The lugs 12 are Vseparate from. thebase plate and carry horizontal extensions 13 (Figure. 3) which underlie 'the base plate and are secured thereto byv screws 14.

A blade 2v is heid in a. spring-cup' holder 32-y which is secured upon anV operating pivot 33 whichl passes through the lugs 12. The lugs 12 are further stiiened by means of a cross-bar 34 which extends between them. n Y

A roller-type guard 15 is mounted between lugs 16 on a sliding lframe 17. The slide 17, as will be the lugs 12 which are secured` to the underside or" the carriage 11. Thus the end faces 61.0f

these horizontal extensions constitute guides forV the slide 17, andit will be appreciated that inasmuch as these end aces'and also the external faces `of the slide 17 are readily accessible during manufacture, a high nish can easily be imparted to them so that the slide works smoothly `and lies it and is-secured to the carriage by the same screws 14 as those which nx the horizontal extensions 13 of the lugs 12. The plate 19 is pressed upwardly at 2O in the centre, as best sho-wn in Figure 2, to accommodateV a spring 21, and thev spring 21 presses onthe end of a plate 22 which lies in a rectangular opening 23 punched in theu slide 17 (see Figure 3). The plate 22 is bent downwardly at 2K1 and doubled over yitself to form a lug', and the lug 24 receives a screw-thread to engage an adjacent screw 25. That part of the plate 22 which engages the spring 2l is bent ldownwardly at 26 not only better to engage the spring 21, but also to form a stop which abuts against the end of the domed casing for the spring. Thus as the stop 26 is normally, held by the spring 21 pressed against the end of the enter a slot in a down-turned lug 28 on the slideY l 17, and thus the screw is heldiromendwise movement relatively to the slide 17 and this ensures the above described adjustment of the slide and with it the guard 15.

The plate 22, which carries the lugs 24 and 26, as can be` seen from the underside plan view in Figure 3, lls the whole of the rectangular lopening Y23 in the frame 17,`and extends fiorwardly to the front of the underside of the carriage 12. To permit this it has a central rectangular opening punched out which permits it toravoid fouling of the spring 21. On the front side of the carriage 12, the plate 22 is bent upwardly at 31 and it extends laterally forming a yoke 29, the ends .of which embrace the outside of the frame 18 whichy carries the guard 15. The ends of the yoke 29 are upturned to form catches 30 (see Figure 1) which engage the` edge corners of the blade 27. Thus the blade-27 is gripped under the pressure of thespring 21,V which forces the plate 22 and the guard 15 rearwardly. The

catches 30 are released by pressure upon the '110g head of the screw which moves the yoke 29 bodily away from the razor blade.

The stropping mechanism of the razor comprises a pinion 37 on the pivotal spindle 33 which carries the razor blade holder 32. This pinion lies outside one of the lugs 12, as seen in Figure 1, and it engages an internal rack 38 on an actuating-lever 39 which is pivoted to the lug 12 by a screw 46. As best seen in Figure 3, the lever 39 below the pivot 40 is bent to pass under the base plate 11 of the carriage and extends across the razor below the carriage from side to side in one integral piece. On the other side of the razor it is bent up to engage a second pivot screw 41 which is axially in line with the screw 40. actuating-lever which extends between the screws and 41, it is bent downwardly to form a U- shaped portion 42 which embraces a lug 43 formed on the upper end of a handle 44. The U-shaped central portion of the actuating-lever is .pivotally secured to the lug 43 by means of v two screws, one of which is shown at 45 in Figure 1. The handle 44 of the razor is hollow as shown in Figure 2 and internally screw-threaded. Within it works a bolt 46 carrying a screwthreaded head 47 to t the screw-threads in the handle. The bolt below the screw-threads has an extension 48 which is transversely slotted. at 49. Also. within the handle there is a key 5l) having a hat ward 5l which enters the slot 49 and is thus capable of rotating the bolt 46 while permitting longitudinal movement thereof. The key 50 has a shank 52 which extends through the lower end of the razor handle and is there secured to a knurled head 53 by which the key may be turned. This rotation of the knurled head 53 serves to advance or retract the bolt 46. The bolt 46 projects from the upper end of the handle as shown in Figure 2, and can be engaged with the underside of the plate 19 behind the domed recess 26 which contains the spring 21. When the bolt is screwed firmly against this plate, the base plate 1l together with the razor blade and all the other parts of the head of the razor are locked relatively to the handle.

It will be observed that when the razor blade 27 is held beneath the catches 30, the mechanism is locked insofar as preventing the lever 39 from actuating the pinion 37 is concerned, but this would not prevent swinging movement of the razor handle about the pivot screws 45 relatively to the lever 39. Thus the bolt 46 constitutes locking means independent of the catches 30 for locking the handle relatively to the lever and carriage when the" blade is in operative shaving relation to the guard l5.

Referring to Figures 4 and 5, it will be seen that the blade-holder 32 has two leaves 62, 63 between which the blade is held. The lever leaf 62 underlies the blade 27 in the shaving position of the parts, and this leaf is provided with two spaced hinge knuckles 62a fast upon the spindle 33'. It carries upturned nibs 54 at each end between which the ends of the blade 27 are located endwise. Room is provided for the nib 54 even at the end nearest the gears 37, 38 during stropping movements of the blade 2'?, by reason of the fact that these gears lie outside the adjacent lug 12, and therefore, although, in the design of the razor, in order to make it compact it is necessary that the blade should occupy the full width of the razor within the lugs 12, yet there is suiicient room, as Viewed in plan, for the nib 54, as

In the centre of the portion of' the it can overlie the thickness of the adjacent lug 12 without fouling the gearing aforesaid.

. The upper leaf 63 of the blade holder is provided with a single hinge knuckle 63a between the knuckles 622- free to turn about the spindle 33 so that it can be opened into the position shown in Figure 5, for insertion of the blade. After the blade is in place the leaf 63 is folded down on to the blade, so that it occupies the position shown in Figure 4. A split spring-collar 65 is slidably mounted on the outside of the knuckles of the leaves 62, 63 which embrace the knuckles on the spindle 33 and when the leaf 63 is folded down the spring-collar is slid over it into the position shown in Figure 4 and locks the holder closed. To open, the collar 65 is slid to one side, over part of leaf 62, thus freeing the upper leaf 63. The collar 65 is knurled on the outside to afford a better surface to engage the iinger of the user.

In the use of this razor for stropping purposes the blade 27 is released from the catches 30 by pressure on the screw 25, and the bolt 46 is withdrawn by4 rotating the knob 53. The strop is then threaded over the rib 35 under the crossbar 3.4 and over the rib 36 beneath the bladeholder. On pulling the end of the strop with one hand so as to hold it taut, grasping the handle 44 with the other hand, and moving the razor to and fro along the strop, the blade is automatically turned over by `the action of the internally toothed rack 38 operating upon the actuating pinion 37, the rack being moved to and fro by the lever 42 attached to the handle. This stropping action imparts an effective stropping pressure to the blade which is not dependent upon the friction of a roller bearing upon the strop as in some existing types of safety razor. 1n fact it will be seen that the Whole of the grip of the carriage 1l upon the strop, both that due to the ribs 35, 36 and that due to the cross-bar 34, is utilized to form a reaction pressure for the pivot of the lever 42. Thus, stropping with this device is remarkably effective.

I claim:-

l. A safety razor having a strop engaging carriage, said carriage comprising a base plate, upwardly extending lugs at each side of the base plate having horizontal extensions underlying the base, the edges of the extensions being parallel to each other, a'bottom plate underlying the horizontal extensions, means for securing the horizontal extensions and the bottom plate to the base, there being a guide formed between the edges of the extensions, the base plate and the bottom plate, a sliding frame in the guide, a blade holder having a shaft pivotally mounted in said lugs, means o n the sliding frame for holding the bladein a fixed cutting position, a yoke pivoted to and'straddling the carriage, a pinion on the blade shaft, and a toothed sector on the yoke for oscillating the pinion during the stropping of the razor.

2. A safety razor having a strop engaging carriage, bearings in lugs on said carriage, a shaft mounted in said bearings, means for oscillating said shaft, a blade holder having a pair of leaves, each provided with a hinge knuckle, the knuckle of the one leaf being secured to the shaft while the other is free thereon, and a split ring slidlll.) 

